Publications of AAAS and Science

August 2012 - Editor's Blog

Welcome to the SB&F Editor's Blog. I am Maria Sosa, Editor-in-Chief of SB&F. Through this blog I hope to interact with the SB&F community and post news and information related to science books, videos, authors, opportunities and other topics of interest to our readers. I hope you find the blog useful and entertaining. Please, join the conversation by posting a comment on our Facebook page. I'd love to hear from you!

The following is a guest blog post written by Andrew Fraknoi , Chair, Astronomy Program, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA As students return to school this fall and the media and web hype about Doomsday 2012 reaches a final, fevered pitch, all of us in science education will need to be prepared to respond to concerns from those who are genuinely worried or confused. Two new resources are now available for educators, parents, youth group leaders, and science communicators to address fears that world-wide disaster is coming on Dec. 21, 2012: A guide to accessible written and audio-visual materials (most of them freely available on the Web) has just been published in the journal " Astronomy... Read more...

Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States at the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. It is a prototypical invasive species, adapting so well to its new environment that today grows throughout most of the southeastern United States. A deadly invader, it kills or damages other plants by smothering them under a blanket of leaves. It can completely encompass tree trunks or even uproot an entire tree. So why not eat it? Though it lends itself to pithy headlines, the idea of eating invasive species is somewhat complex and not necessarily the "easy" solution to the problem that it can appear to be on the surface. Eating invasive species made news... Read more...

In case anyone out there doesn't already know, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, successfully landed the Curiosity rover on August 6, 2012. Curiosity's successful landing, and all of the excitement that surrounded it, has inspired me to immerse myself in all things Mars, including reading Kim Stanley Robinson's award-winning science fiction trilogy, which is included in the list of resources below. By no means definitive and certainly not complete, I've tried to include a little bit of something for everyone on this list of resources. If you are looking for easy access to all the latest space information as it happens, there's a NASA... Read more...

Now in its 25th year, Shark Week has become a highly anticipated television event. For many, Shark Week is a chance to experience the terror of a shark attack from the comfort (and safety) of their reclining sofas. One of the highlights of Shark Week is "Sharkzilla", premiering Monday, August 13, a team of engineers and paleontologists work together to recreate the largest shark to ever swim in our oceans: the mighty Megalodon. (See picture below.) It will be followed by "Mythbusters' Jawsome Shark Special", during which hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman count down their 25 biggest shark myths. Throughout its history, Shark Week 's popularity has made it a positive... Read more...